I Got This

348.

California mornings in spring can be glorious. Until the volume of automobile traffic fills the air with internal combustion exhaust. By then the mixture of heat and carbon dioxide creates the atmospheric pollutant known as smog. On our way back to visit our 'subjects' my eyes are dry, itchy and stinging. "No wonder the locals wear shades and carry Visine like we carry Chapstick," I comment to Mustang, sitting upright with her hands at ten and two.

We used the early morning to brief Julie on our progress, to receive intel updates and learn of the current situations in Madison, Austin and DC. In both the Wisconsin and Texas capitols - without the luxury of having previously incarcerated suspected terrorists to prod - Davis and The Queen have been on a 24/7 stakeout of a person of interest reputed to lead the local Proud Boys cell. Interestingly, it is the same scenario with Drysdale and Saunders in Austin, with the only difference being their targets are affiliated with the Oath Keepers. Sometimes, I consider to myself, you need a program to keep track of all these pissed-off white dudes. In DC, Harlan reports that the Capitol Police and National Guard have each added personnel to their rosters, making their job all the easier. I wish we had that luxury - but we have 'Boots' and Sheener.

"Do you think it could all be as easy as them just wanting to belong to something larger than themselves?" I ask removing my sunglasses to wipe my eyes.

"I think that is a large part of it. Many are from broken homes with little or no discipline. In the case of the men, which sums in at more than 90%, negative or nonexistent male role models are sadly the norm. No wonder so many kids find their tribe in music or sports."

"Totally agree, that and the economic reality of education rebellion. Once you decide, or it is decided for you, to drop out, the prospects of working for minimum wage skyrocket. Making the margin for error right around zero. Crime and delinquency begins to look like the only ways out. There, take the next off-ramp…"

Mustang doesn't question my command and jumps two lanes in one move, smoothly exiting the freeway and joining traffic on a major arterial and connecting to a giant western looking restaurant advertising "The Biggest Steak this Side of Pecos" from its gabled roof.

"Looks like its happy hour for carnivore cowboys," She quips in response to the parking lot full of pickups.

She parks the giant Escalade in the last row of parking, a good hundred yards from the entrance. I am a touch perturbed in her choice but grab my cane and set off to trek across the asphalt mesa, shooting her a questioning glance as I shut the door. "This is gonna be the easiest $500 I've ever made, be right back."

"You are going to have to earn it Honcho. And don't forget the spud. I'll be here collecting my notes on the post-read discussion," she says holding up the copy of A Man in Full, the book she is putting up against my thirty dollar marbled slab of beef.

I walk across the burning parking lot considering both sides of the good-natured wager. Yes, I agree that Mr. Wolfe's 750 page moral treatise is compelling, but my next step is a Pavlovian moment of almost tasting that two inch, bone-in Ribeye.

And I know I got this.